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Blessed is the Church

One aspect about myself as a pastor that I cannot change is being human. Though I think about God and share teachings about God, I am not a god. In my two decades as a professional clergy person, I’ve observed that we clergy don’t give ourselves enough grace when it comes to being human, the…

Blessed Yes

Joy is seeing your good friend say “yes” to the dress and know how much hope echoes in each of the of yeses that led to the dress. Wedding dress shopping is an American rite of passage for many women and inspired a hit television reality show, “Say Yes to the Dress.” Another common rite…

Blessed are the Chaplains

You know the saying that cracks are places where the light comes in? But what happens when we are in the crack of pain, fear, and confusion and there’s no light shining in? This past August, as I sat with the news about a possible ovarian cancer diagnosis, I was lost for a moment in…

Blessed Love

Date night with my husband of 16 years this time was extra special. Live music in the park near our home, so close we decided to walk. A beautiful, balmy summer night. I held in my heart a new appreciation of life since hearing the possibility of an ovarian cancer diagnosis up ahead. That night…

Blessed Life

The week after my speech at the Indiana State House in support of reproductive rights at the end of July, I landed in the emergency room with symptoms of severe abdominal pain. The ER doctor referred me to my gynecologist, who then referred me to a specialist for advanced imaging, who then referred me to…

Blessed Body

Listen when your body is telling you something. Pain is a language. It’s your body’s way of communicating. This is the wisdom my doctor gave me back in July, when I called her two days after my speech in support of reproductive rights at the Indiana State House. She said to go to the emergency…

Blessed is She

I may have screamed. I was definitely shouting. But when you are a preacher and you’re wearing a clergy collar leading a crowd in chanting, perhaps what I was really doing was preaching. Can a woman preach without a pulpit? My pulpit was a stage centered on the ground floor of the Indiana State House…

From Chalice Press: Why We’re Publishing “Blessed Youth” and “Blessed Youth Survival Guide”

This was originally posted on Chalice Press, here. Nearly 20 percent of high school students seriously considered attempting suicide last year. Almost 10 percent acted on those thoughts and attempted suicide. These statistics, reported in April by the Center for Disease Control, became part of the life experience of Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund when her 16-year-old niece…

The Stigma of Suicide

Stigma silences. Stigma shames. Stigma controls. Stigma creates barriers. Stigma isolates. Stigma alienates. Stigma spreads fear. Perhaps nothing in the field of mental health is more stigmatized and misunderstood than suicide. Part of the problem is the stigma itself. Why is it so hard to talk about suicide? As a suicide loss survivor and as…

Blessed Youth

“Sometimes I cry when I am laughing so hard and my sides hurt,” I smile as I talk to my six year old niece. “Yes, tears just start falling out of my eyes!” “It’s the same water that’s in your nose,” she says matter-of-factly. “And sometimes I cry when I am feeling sad or lonely.…

The Beatitudes of the Pastor

1. Blessed is the pastor who embraces simplicity and sharing her lifestyle because her witness gives birth to the realm of heaven. 2. Blessed is the pastor who does not fear to water her face with tears, so that in them can be mirrored the sorrows of the people, the fatigue of the ministries, and…

Mental Health and Spirituality

Mental health encompasses all of who we are in mind, body, and spirit. Yet, too often we talk about mental health as if our brains are detached from our bodies and our souls. This limited understanding led me to wonder what a mental health informed spirituality would look like. Put another way, what can mental…

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